


Stubborn

by mellarkscheesebuns



Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 08:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7501005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellarkscheesebuns/pseuds/mellarkscheesebuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If there was one thing he did know, it was that Norma Bates did not give up. She would not have given up on their marriage, and neither would he. Their stubborn personalities would keep them together for the rest of their lives." (set after their fight in 4x09)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stubborn

He wasn’t going to let go of her. 

If there was one thing Norma should’ve picked up in the two weeks they’ve been married and the full year they’ve known each other, it’s that he doesn’t give up. He’s stubborn—always has been and it was one of the things that kept them from being together in the first place. Always one step forward and two steps back with them, each one too stubborn to admit their feelings, waiting for the other to cave in. It wasn’t until her life was at risk that he decided to be the one to surrender; to succumb to the feelings that he had tried so desperately to push down the past few months. Leading up to her unexpected proposal, it was getting harder and harder to conceal his feelings. If she hadn’t shown up at his doorstep, he probably would have spent the rest of his life hoping to god he wouldn’t cry out her name when Rebecca or some other faceless woman was underneath him. 

That stubborn quality was the exact reason why it had taken him twenty-two years to learn how to love again. Twenty-two years he had spent alone, working late nights and never bothering to even think about a love life unless he had to have his needs fulfilled. Twenty-two years he spent fooling around with women he couldn’t remember. Every so often a woman would come along and he would take her to a few dinners, sleep with her a few times and leave before it started having a semblance of being serious. It wasn’t a jab to them, of course not. He just hadn’t felt love ever since the incident.

After his mother died, she took his heart with her. Her mother had loved him more than anything else in the dark, torturous world she was forced to lived in. With a drunk, barely-there father who cared more about money than his own family, it became just him and his mother. While his father used his dirty money to go on “work trips” to Vegas, his mother scraped by with the little money she was making to give Alex a happy life. If she saw her son smile, it would be enough to convince her to live one more day and see her son grow into a man she raised; a man that was not like his selfish, greedy father. And so Alex worked hard, suddenly becoming the head of their little family when his mother stopped getting out of bed. Cooking for her, caring for her, showing her all the good grades he got at school...he did everything, hoping one day she would light up again. And she would do the same thing every day before she decided it was time for her to sleep; put a hand up to his face and gently squeeze while Alex held a breath, hoping that he had convinced her that the world was good enough. “Thank you,” she would say in a voice no louder than a whisper. Then she would smile up at him and let sleep overcome her. To him, that was everything. That assured him that she would be there in the morning.

But then one morning she wasn’t there. She was gone, just like that. One day, she didn't wake up, didn’t breathe. She had overdosed on her medicine and he blamed himself for it. If he had been more observant; if he had checked the medicine cabinet and found the empty bottle of pills before she fell asleep, she would still be alive. If his father hadn’t been so full of himself, she would still be alive. The pain he felt was unbearable. It was searing through his chest, ripping apart the very faction of love he had for anybody. His heart tore away piece by piece and a wall began to form in its place. When he realized she was never going to wake up again, a piece of his heart tore away. At the funeral, another piece. When his father came home the next day and started blaming him for it, the wall was built. And because of that, love became something that he couldn’t let into his life again, not after everything he had to go through after realizing that he would never see his mother smile again.

But in that twenty-second year, something changed. Norma Bates threw away the mantra he had held onto for so long and took him into her life and into her arms. In that twenty-second year, he had learned to love again; to know what it was like to feel again. That year, the hard exterior of Sheriff Romero cracked little by little by Norma’s eccentricity and unpredictability. And inside that wall was Alex. Loving, caring, and kind Alex. 

Revived.

He’d be damned if she was trying to take that away for something that could be easily fixed. 

“She still loves me.”

That was the thought looping around his head as he left his office and drove to her house. There was no way he would let go of her. Not after everything. 

Not after all the times he woke up to find her staring at him, gently combing her fingers through his hair and looking at him in a way that said something more than just gratefulness. Not after their promise of building a home together after a lifetime filled with so much sorrow and heartbreak.

Letting go was not an option because if there was one thing he did know, it was that Norma Bates did not give up. She would not have given up on their marriage, and neither would he. Their stubborn personalities would keep them together for the rest of their lives.

He reached her house in record time, parking his car right next to hers. He looked up at the house and saw that all the lights were off except for the one in her room. It was nearly midnight. He hesitated. He didn’t know if Norman was asleep or waiting at the door with another axe in his hand. But at this point he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was find Norma and apologize to her. He would find a way to fix her problems. 

He always did. 

He found her sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the window in front of her. She sniffled.

—

She didn’t have to turn around to know it was him. “Alex?” she whispered, eyes brimming with tears. She waited until his arms were wrapped around her to let out the anguished sobs she had been holding back since their fight earlier. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.” He planted a kiss on her temple, then turned to wipe the tears off her face. “I love you. I love you, I love you.” She couldn’t stop saying it. It was the only truth she could hold onto; now the only constant in her life. She needed to grasp it and make sure it was real and that it was still there and that it would never go away.

Norma didn’t know how long they stayed like that, holding each other. It could’ve been minutes, hours. Eventually, they were laying down on her bed, her head on his chest propped up to face him as he traced imaginary shapes on her back. Alex didn’t say anything, either waiting for her to explain or fall asleep. He didn’t really care anymore. Finally, she was in his arms and that was all he could ever want. 

“You were right,” she finally said. “Hmm?” he lifted his brows, falling in and out of sleep. 

“I took Norman back to Pineview.” 

His hand on her back froze. “W-what? Did he voluntarily admit himself?” She shook her head. “After we fought, I went back home and Norman found out I went to go out and see you. Even though I told him it didn’t even end well, he just…turned into a psychopath.” She took a shaky breath and continued. “Remember that time I called you before we admitted him for the first time? It was like that, but this time I didn’t hide myself in another room. I left the house, grabbed my keys and drove to Emma’s house, hoping that her and Dylan hadn’t left for Seattle yet. I printed the necessary papers to involuntarily admit him, and both of us signed it.

When I got back home, Norman was waiting for me, asking me if I had gone to see you again and wondering how his ‘sheriff of a stepfather’ was in the sack. At this point, I was livid. It was like he was spitting bile at me. I wasn’t even scared of him anymore; I just wanted this twisted version of my son out of the house. It took some effort between me and Dylan, but we managed to get him there.”

He didn’t talk for a while. She wondered if he even heard her. “So is this…is this still a bubble?” he asked softly, remembering the words she used when she tried to break things off with him earlier. 

She blinked up at him, then cupped his face with both of her hands and leaned in to kiss him. 

“No more bubbles,” she said, between kisses. “This is real. We are real.”

—

When he woke up the next morning, he reached out for her but was met with empty sheets instead. 

They had a long night. After she confessed what happened to Norman, she said that she blamed herself for all of it. His blackouts, Blaire Watson, Bradley Martin…all of it. She just loved Norman and didn’t want to lose him. She wanted to give him a better home life than the one that she had endured. It was tough for her to explain, and the night brought with it more tears. But before she fell asleep, she told him that she was grateful for him; for everything. She was incredibly grateful because despite the hell that she had faced all throughout her life, she still found happiness. For a long time, she believed that her own quest for happiness disappeared after she became a mother. She was with Sam for sixteen years. Norma had been with Alex for sixteen days and the love and happiness she felt daily was incomparable to the years of hell she went through. They were real, Norma assured him last night as they held each other. Nothing would change that.

He spotted a small piece of paper on her pillow and smiled as he picked it up and read it. 

“Hi, hon! Sorry I didn’t wake you, I’m sure the county can handle their sheriff oversleeping every once in awhile. I went out to get something, but I’ll probably be back once you wake up. Don’t leave until you see me. I love you so much. -N”

If he wasn’t so sure of himself, this woman loved him more than he loved her. From a distance, he could hear faint traces of Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” playing from downstairs. He made his way down to the kitchen where he found Norma making breakfast and swaying along to the tune. She didn’t seem to notice him standing there, so he crept up behind her and placed a soft kiss to her hair. 

“Wanna dance?” 

She jumped a little, but relaxed once she realized it was him. She turned around to face him, a content smile on her lips. “Good morning,” she says, tilting her head up to kiss him. They swayed for a little bit, waiting until breakfast was finished. After she served him his food, she sat in the chair next to him and watched as he ate. 

“Not that I’m complaining…” he started. “but why are you staring at me?” She chuckled and bit her lip as she turned her head down. “I have something very important to give you.”

“Is that so?” She nodded. 

“Give me your hand.”

He complied, a little confused at her request but nevertheless intrigued. “Remember when I told you I was keeping my name? I know you’re the one that told your staff to keep calling me Mrs. Romero.” She smiled at the stupid grin he couldn’t hold back. “Anyway, when I went out this morning, I was getting eggs.”

“You got me eggs?” Norma gave him an unimpressed look, but he urged her to go on. 

“I started thinking about how I didn’t want girls like Rebecca…” she stuck her tongue out after saying her name. “…to feel like they still had a chance with you. So.” She leaned in to kiss him, jealousy spurring her on, but before it could get too heated, she leaned back in her seat. He started to pull her back in, but realized what she put on his finger when he felt metal come in contact with her skin, along with the rest of his hand. “Also, you know, it can serve as a reminder of who we are to each other, even when I’m not there and all that romantic stuff that comes with relationships and marriage.” 

It was a simple gold wedding band. 

“Another thing. I got some pictures of us printed. There’s one from the Festival of Lights, but the others are the ones we took ourselves. I was thinking I could go with you to work today so we can put them around your office maybe...?”

She bought him a ring. 

“Alex? You listening?”

He knew he loved her, but it wasn’t until this moment that he felt his entire being exude with adoration for her. In this moment, he surrendered. This was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with; the woman he would wake up to every morning and hold close at night. This was it. She was it.

He looked up from his wedding band and saw her looking at him with confusion, but that disappeared once he took his sheriff badge off and pinned it on her dress.

“Let’s go, Mrs. Sheriff.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my version of Vera saying how she wanted Norma to "ride off into the sunset with Sheriff Romero." Happy endings for all of us. 
> 
> I'm on tumblr at mellarkscheesebuns and twitter as @organaeverdeen. As always, please leave feedback!


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